Wild Dreams
by Elegant Soul
Summary: A companion story to TRDowden's "Paint By Number." It appears that Jake's Trouble has unforeseen after-effects for Duke and Jennifer.


_Note: Hello. This is a thank you story for TRDowden1, for reading my idea using it, and for putting up with my weirdness. I do know own Haven, the people who created them did. I hope you enjoy this._

Wild Dreams

The snow leopard walked through the strange snow-covered field. She did not know how she arrived in this land. She remembered falling through a dark hole surrounded by green light, and found herself here. So far, she had only seen small lifeforms, but nothing that could be a threat to her, so she continued exploring.

She looked up at the cloud-filled sky and she stopped as mist filled the area. It didn't matter if it was day or night to her right now. For a snow leopard, you eat when you need to eat. Using all of her senses, the snow leopard searched for prey. She heard and smelled something that caught her interest, so she headed in the direction from which the sounds and smells were coming.

She soon saw through the mist the silhouettes of two figures; one notably bigger than the other. The snow leopard figured out that the bigger figure is prey and the smaller one is predator. As she came closer, she saw the animals in more detail. She had never seen animals like them before, but somehow her instincts identified them as 'moose' and 'wolf.'

The moose was the largest prey animal the snow leopard has ever seen. The huge wide rack of anthers on his head even impressed her as a deadly weapon, as the moose tried to impale the wolf with them.

The wolf had dark brown and tawny, thick and shaggy fur. His eyes (she somehow knew that the wolf is a male) were amber yellow, and had a good-sized thick and bushy tail.

Again, instincts told the snow leopard that this wolf is unusual. Wolves live in packs, together; why was this one different?

The wolf attempted to go for the moose's neck, but the moose kicked the wolf away with his front hoof. As the wolf was recovering, the moose was ready to trample on him. While the snow leopard watched. A voice in her mind told her that this was wrong, and she listened.

The snow leopard leapt at the moose, digging in her claws, and biting the moose along his flank; not a good place for a kill attack, but it was enough to seriously injure the moose. The moose bellowed, as the wolf looked at the snow leopard in wonder. The moose wildly bucked around, trying to throw off the snow leopard, and after a few more attempts, it worked. The moose lowered his head, ready to charge at the recovering snow leopard, when the wolf dashed at him, biting down hard on his neck. The moose bellowed again, as he tried to shake off the wolf. The wolf held on firmly, trying not to lose his grip. Just then, the snow leopard leapt from the other side, and bit into the moose's neck, digging in her claws into his flesh. A minute seemed to pass, until the moose collapsed and fell on the ground, dead. The snow leopard and the wolf both let go and looked at each other.

The wolf looked at this new animal and studied her sky blue eyes. He then walked up to her, and licked off some blood covering her face.

"_Thank you," _the wolf said, using the secret way animals communicate.

"_Why?" _the snow leopard asked.

"_You saved my life," _the wolf said, licking off the blood from his long muzzle. _"I am grateful I'm still alive."_

"_Oh, you're welcome then,"_ the snow leopard said and looked at the fallen moose. _"It is yours."_

The wolf shook his head. _"No, I couldn't have brought him down without your help; so it is ours."_

"_Yes, that makes sense," _the snow leopard said, and she licked her mouth.

"_You should have the first bite," _the wolf said, making the snow leopard stare at him. _"Please do."_

"_Thank you," _the snow leopard said and began eating.

Soon, the wolf joined her, and they ate until their bellies were full. As the snow leopard began cleaning herself, it started to snow. The wolf watched the snow fall before looking at the snow leopard.

"_Now what?"_ the wolf asked.

"_I guess I find myself a home,"_ the snow leopard said, once she was done with her bath. _"By—"_

"_No," _the wolf said, and walked over to her and nuzzled her face. _"Stay."_

"_What?"_

"_There's plenty of room in my den," _the wolf said with a . . . wolfish grin. _"It's near the river."_

"_But . . . but . . . why me?"_ the snow leopard asked, curious and confused. _"You should be with other wolves."_

"_I don't get along with others wolves very well," _the wolf said. _"But . . . I like you . . . I think we'll be good for each other."_

"_But what happens if we no longer want to be together?" _the snow leopard asked, worried, backing away.

The wolf's amber yellow eyes looked sad, but he carefully thought over the question.

"_We'll deal with that problem if and when it happens," _the wolf finally said and looked deep into the snow leopard's sky blue eyes. _"Will you be with me?"_

There was silence as the snow fell, and the wolf and the snow leopard looked at each other. After a while, the snow leopard walked over to the wolf. She then rubbed his chest with her head, and purred.

"_Yes," _she said and licked his nose, as the wolf wagged his tail. _"I will stay with you."_

The wolf happily ran around, wagging his tail, and howled in delight. The snow leopard laughed.

"_Thank you,"_ the wolf said, stopping in front of her. _"I'll show you the way."_

He then playfully nipped her ear.

"_If you can catch me!"_ the wolf said, grinning, running off.

"_Hey!" _the snow leopard yelled, but giggled. She then chased him.

The snow leopard and the wolf played with each other as they headed for the den. The sky was turning darker as the snow continued to fall, when the two animals saw the den next to the river. The river was beginning to freeze, so the wolf and the snow leopard decided to get a drink before they entered the den.

"_This is nice," _the snow leopard said, once they were inside.

"_You can see there is plenty of space for both of us," _the wolf said and yawned. _"Sorry; I need to sleep."_

"_That's fine; I'm tired too," _the snow leopard said, yawning as well.

The snow leopard and the wolf soon curled up together, warm and comfortable.

"_Good night . . ." _the snow leopard said, falling asleep. _". . . Duke . . ."_

"_Night . . ." _the wolf said, falling asleep. _". . . Jennifer . . ."_

* * *

Jennifer and Duke woke up, staring at each other.

"Oh, hey," Jennifer said in a soft tone. "Uh . . . bad dream?"

"No," Duke said, rubbing his face. "It was just . . . weird. What about you?"

"Just a . . . strange dream," Jennifer said. "Do you want to tell me your dream?"

"I was drinking water from a river . . ." Duke began, but then he saw Jennifer's eyes grow wide. Did she . . .? Nah . . . But then . . . "What did you dream?"

"Snow," Jennifer replied, grabbing Duke's attention.

"Playing in the snow?" Duke asked, a little concerned, as he and Jennifer sat up in bed.

"Was there a moose in your dream?" Jennifer asked and Duke nodded back.

They then looked at the paintings Jake gave them: the one where he depicted them as were-creatures and the other one where he drew them as humans. Jennifer thought it would be nice to hang them up, but Duke wanted to lock away the paintings in one of his secret hiding spaces. In the end, they decided to leave the paintings out for now, and figure out where to put them in the morning.

"Duke," Jennifer finally said. "Should we be worried?"

"Not right now," Duke said. "We'll tell Nathan and Audrey in the morning, and go from there."

Jennifer nodded in agreement. She and Duke gave the painting of them as were-creatures one last look before they went back to bed.

Duke and Jennifer found themselves fast asleep in each other's arms, and they both had peaceful dreams of a wolf and a snow leopard happily living together in the wild.


End file.
